Today, I sat on my lazy ass and indulged my inner need for ‘me time’ and silence. I figure I’ve endured more than my share of listening to the high-pitched sounds that regularly resonate from my little posse.

In fact, I think my facial muscles are frozen in a permament sleep mask for the first hour (or more) that I am awake. It is close to impossible for me to smile.

And I hate, detest, abhor being startled awake (this does not include hearing my children cry out in the middle of the night…..for that I come running) I’m talking about the poking, being used as a mommy-punching-bag, the yelling in my ear for fun, the let’s-see-if-we-can-get-her-eyes-to-open-by-sticking-our-fingers-in-them. I. Hate. Being. Woken. Up. Like. This.

It makes me crabby. I don’t like being crabby. I have this grand vision of waking up like Cinderella…..peacefully, with a slight yawn and a great big stretch….with a smile and a can’t-wait-to-get-the-day-started-feeling. But, nope, not me. Instead of being roused from a sweet slumber by small animals who chirp lovingly in my ear, I start the day as a toddler trampoline.

Oh wait….I’m being beckoned again. Time to see if I can rouse my smiling self from slumber.

Her name is Emily Berry. In January of this year, she was diagnosed with an inopearable brain tumor. Rather than bursting into tears, instead of yelling, “Why me?” this little girl waited until the neurologist left the room, she looked at her parents and said, “You know, I’m going to name it (the tumor) Delores. And Delores has got to go!” This is what they are up against.

Emily’s parents, Cory and Kevin, were later amazed to learn from one of their doctors that ‘dolor’ means ‘pain’ in Latin and ‘dolor’ + ‘es’ means to ‘get rid of pain’. How did this sweet girl know to name her nemesis Delores?

Emily’s tumor is a Pediatric Low Grade Astrocytoma (PLGA), the most common form of brain tumors in children. There aren’t many treatment options and the PLGA Foundation is tragically underfunded. So, there aren’t many treatment options. Emily recently finished a 10 week course of chemotherapy that didn’t slow the tumor’s progress. They are exploring other options with their team of doctors at Cardinal Glennon’s Children’s Hospital in St. Louis.

Emily and her family came up with a plan. In addition to getting rid of Delores, they created their own Non-profit foundation to raise $1 million dollars for research to fight PLGA’s. They are doing it with their very own website, www.ColorForACure.org. They are hoping to raise the money $1 dollar at a time. To track their progress, Emily’s dad created a ‘one million pixel picture’. For every dollar donated, one pixel of the entirely black picture will turn the color of your choice. Right now the picture is lit by over 4000 colored dots of light.

I hope you will stop by Emily’s site. I hope you can part with $1 to help this little girl reach her goal. And, I hope you will pass www.ColorForACure.org on to your friend’s and family.

100% of the money raised will go to the PLGA specifically for research. Not one penny will be spent on administrative costs. You go through a secure Google checkout when you donate. Until the end of this year, Google will not charge a transaction fee for non-profit groups. (PayPal apparently takes 32 cents of every dollar), so the family truly hopes to reach their goal by December 31st.

Ok….I’m clearly at a not a technical genius….but I have a wish and was wondering if anyone might suggest a company/service/person who knows how to incorporate wordpress into an existing website… I would really like to have my current blog on the homepage of www.ExtraordinaryMommy.com.

I’m not looking ofr a handout….I am hoping to find out if such a service exists, and if so, what would be the cost?

Just got a speeding ticket. 70 in a 60. Came around a curve…and there he was…police officer, just camped out. Very nice man. I contemplated lying (I’m hurrying home because I just got my period)…crying (I can produce tears on command)….using my kids as a ploy (I did ask him if they could say hi)